June 14, 2011

A Curriculum is a Promise

When people pay for an education, they are speculating. Tuition is money paid for a perceived value based on trust in the past, on the stories told by others who have been there, with the hope of increased value in the future. It's a risk.

Students or parents can visit your campus and talk to teachers, but they can't take a test drive or read product specifications or reviews that will tell the true story of what will happen once the child is enrolled. And I have not yet seen a school that offers an unconditional money-back guarantee.

Apart from reputation ("the bubble reputation," as Shakespeare said), a curriculum's scope and sequence are the most compelling promise you can make that your school is not just froth. Promising what sequence of events a child will experience, and delighting parents with the quality of your delivery on that promise, is a powerful way, if not the only way, to keep your tuition bubble from popping, and to make your school sustainable.